On December 4th Shawn Mendes released what has been called his best album yet Wonder. This album is certainly something different from his past albums. Wonder is interesting, calming but at the same time joyful, it’s intriguing and consists of fourteen beautifully written and composed tracks. All the bits and pieces of Wonder are made to perfection. Just two years after his album Shawn Mendes his writing, beats, and lyrics have changed immensely and it shows his music growth from over two years.

 Wonder has heavy themes going on throughout all the tracks, the dark side of being a celebrity which is shown clearly in the track “Monster” that he sings with Justin Bieber. He shows loneliness in the track “Call My Friends”. The track  “24 hours” portrays the theme of jumping into situations too fast and settling down way too early. Which is something that everyone can relate to.

 “I was coming off the back of a couple really big songs and was just so driven by my ego” Shawn tells Apple Music. 

That in itself is true. While listening to the album you’ll notice that each song is different. not one song has a similar beat or lyrics. The album is a whole plate of beats, lyrics, feelings, instruments, and beauty. You can just tell that every song was deep and thoroughly composed.

 Mendes shows his more mature side as a musician and as a part of himself with this new album. 

Alongside this album, Mendes recently had a documentary released on Netflix (Shawn Mendes: In Wonder). The documentary shows his journey and process of making his latest album. It takes you through his train of thoughts and emotions of what it takes when creating an album. 

One thing that can be said though, is that this album truly shows how far he has come since he first appeared with his hit single Life Of A Party in 2014. One thing that is duly noticed by fans and famous musicians and artists, in general, is that fame is something that can make or break your career. It’s something that can change an artist for the worst or the better and destroy a person’s creativity. 

Mendes is not one of those people who lets his fame break his career. He calls this batch of songs his return to creativity for his sake after getting burned out on the addictive thrill of chasing hits. 

¨I’m still trying to know myself¨, he says to Apple Music. “but that’s the beauty of it. This album is like an audio scrapbook. It shows the things I thought about- how fearless I was, but also how scared I was.”

 Mendes has shown clearly just how much he has improved as a musician, human, singer, and songwriter. With growth comes a reward and this album seems to be his reward. The little delights in Wonder are all so simple but huge and great. In his Netflix documentary, he makes sure that it is known how much he loves his girlfriend (Camilla Cabello) and most of his love songs or just songs, in general, are for her. The love she has shown him is clearly shown in this album throughout a couple of the songs. 

“A lot happens when you fall in love for the first time,” he told Apple Music. 

Overall Wonder is Shawn’s latest album and it is something that I would highly recommend. Full of intriguing tones, lush textures, beautiful instrumentals, and a boatload of feelings and growth. This album will keep your emotions changing throughout the fourteen track list and will have you dancing and crying for sure. This past year has been hard for everyone including celebrities. Just know you’re not alone and that it’s possible to grow to an even better version of yourself as Mendes did with this album. If you’re looking for soothing but hard feeling music this might just be the perfect album for you.